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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. More than 1,600 men and women took a major step toward their future Thursday night in White Plains when they graduated from Westchester Community College as the second biggest graduating class in the schools history.
Joseph Hankin, president of WCC, congratulated the class of 2012 and wished them well on their future journey.
I wish this class well in the future, but then again I say that with every one of our graduating classes, Hankin said.
Hankin noted that this years graduating class is a diverse one, with the age range of students graduating spanning from 17 to 68 years old. Hankin also said that many of the graduates will now go on to work for various Westchester businesses such as Pepsi, IBM, and New York Medical College.
David Kwon of New Rochelle is a student at WCC and was in attendance Thursday to support his fellow classmates. He said that graduation at a college such as Westchester Community is a special occasion.
I think a graduation at a two-year school like WCC is a big victory because a lot of the times I feel like the students that are here because of some adversity in their lives, Kwon said.
Kyle Knox of Ossining was also at the county center to support his fellow classmates at WCC and said the moment was bittersweet.
Its because you hope that the people you met here will move on to bigger and better things in their life but its also a little sad because there may be some people that you met that may not see much anymore, Knox said.
Guest speakers at the commencement ceremony were County Executive Rob Astorino and New York Sen. Charles Schumer. Astorino delivered tips of advice to ease graduates fears of the future, while Schumer instructed the students to go for it, using his story on his skepticism to originally run for political office as an example.
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